Hall finds perfect role in 1st full season with Hurricanes

Taylor Hall has found his comfort zone with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The 34-year-old is playing a role that has him producing at his highest offensive rate since 2021-22. He’s in his 16th NHL season and first full season with Carolina after being traded there in January 2025.

“It’s funny, you play 30 games (for Carolina) last year and you think you’re comfortable and you know the system and everything,” Hall recently told NHL.com. “But the way that we play and the structure and details we have when we’re playing well, I think I’m just really starting to figure out the way I can play to best contribute on this team.”

Hall has 40 points (15 goals, 25 assists) in 73 games for the Hurricanes, who play the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+) in what could be a preview of a first-round matchup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Hurricanes (46-21-6) lead the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference with 98 points. The Blue Jackets (38-24-12) have 88 points and enter Monday as the second wild card in the East.

One reason the Hurricanes are poised to win the division and possibly home-ice advantage in the East is the play of Hall, who is the left wing on Carolina’s second line with center Logan Stankoven and right wing Jackson Blake.

“I think I’ve played well with the line I’ve been on, with the system and the way we play,” Hall said. “I’m an extinctive player and the way that we play sometimes curtails some of those instincts in a good way. Sometimes you have to figure out where you can make plays, and it has to become an automatic that you have to be where you need to be. Getting used to that takes longer than 30 games.”

Hall was acquired by Carolina from the Chicago Blackhawks as part of a three-way trade that sent forward Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars on Jan. 24, 2025.

The trade ended a frustrating season and-a-half tenure with Chicago for Hall.

A knee injury limited him to 10 games in 2023-24, and he had 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 46 games last season before he was traded.

Hall helped the Hurricanes down the stretch last season with 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 31 games, and then had six points (two goals, four assists) in 15 playoff games.

Carolina was eliminated in five games in the Eastern Conference Final by the Florida Panthers, who went on to defeat the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive season.

“It’s all about him and what his attitude was coming in,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I was happy with how he was willing to do whatever we needed him to do. For a guy with that pedigree, that’s not always the case.

“He doesn’t look like a guy who’s been in the League for as long as he has. He’s playing with the young kids and maybe that helps too, keeping him going. I don’t want to say he’s been a surprise, you expect that out of him, but he’s been a really welcomed addition.”

Hall was selected by Edmonton No. 1 in the 2010 NHL Draft. He spent six seasons with the Oilers before being traded to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Adam Larsson on June 29, 2016. Hall spent four seasons in New Jersey, winning the Hart Trophy as the NHL most valuable player in 2017-18 with 93 points (39 goals, 54 assists) in 76 games.

He was traded to the Arizona Coyotes in Dec. 2019, and signed with the Buffalo Sabres as an unrestricted free agent the following season. Things didn’t work out Buffalo, and he was traded to the Boston Bruins after playing 37 games with the Sabres.

Hall had success in Boston before heading to Chicago, and is finding similar prosperity in Carolina.

“After I left Boston, I wanted to be in a situation just like that and I think I really found it here,” Hall said. “It’s a credit to the organization, to the coaches, to the guys that have been here for a while, it’s an easy place to come in and play and be yourself. I’ve had lot of fun with it.”

Hall’s evolution from a first-line forward to a responsible defensive player that can provide secondary offense has not always been smooth. But Brind’Amour has been able to get the most out of the speedy wing in the back half of his career.

“That’s why I’m really impressed, he’s got a different kind of role,” Brind’Amour said. “On other teams, he was the man, and that’s not kind of how we operate, and he doesn’t have any issue with that. He wants to win and do whatever he can to help our group do that and you can see that the way that he’s played with us.”

Hall has also been a good influence on Blake, 22, and Stankoven, 23. Blake has 45 points (21 goals, 24 assists) in 73 games, and Stankoven has 33 points (14 goals, 19 assists) in 73 games. The two were still in grade school when Hall made his NHL debut.

“The guy’s incredible out there, he’s been so good for so long,” Blake said. “Especially playing with (Stankoven), we’re two younger guys and to have a guy on our line that we can go to, that’s been through it and can help us if we need anything, it’s really nice. And he’s obviously a heck of a hockey player, too.”

Carolina has been to the conference final two of the past three seasons -- losing to the Florida Panthers each time -- and it looking to take the next step.

Hall, Blake and Stankoven have been instrumental in Carolina’s success.

“We just try to do our thing, we just try to use our legs and our energy,” Stankoven said. “He knows where to go and where to be to score goals. He gets to the right spots and we just try to feed him when we can and obviously he’s got that great speed to gain entries.”

The furthest Hall has been in the playoffs was the conference final last season. He believes Carolina learned from the experience and is better equipped for the playoffs this season.

“We lost in the conference final last year to the eventual champion and we believe in what we’re doing,” Hall said. “We’ve believe we added some pieces from that team last year and it’s really going to come down to what we do in those moments in the playoffs and I think we all know that.”